Florida statute requires all private and public VPK providers to use the Florida VPK Assessment as a pre- and post-assessment. The Coalition is requesting providers to administer Assessment Period 1 (AP1), Assessment Period 2 (AP2) and Assessment Period 3 (AP3) in order to track child development over the course of the year.

Assessment Period 1: Begin the week of September 24th

Assessment Period 2: Begin the week of January 7th

Assessment Period 3: Begin the week of May 13th

Administration of the VPK Assessment takes 12-15 minutes per child.

If a child enters the VPK program after the September Assessment (AP1) from a School Readiness or Head Start program, administration of the AP2 and AP3 assessments are the only requirements.

If providers wish to use VPK Assessment Data for a Good Cause Exemption then they must have at least three years of data to show learning gains or growth.

The VPK Assessment was standardized in English, therefore it must be administered to children in English. If the Assessment is given in any other language, the results are not valid. Children must respond to Assessment questions in English. Responses in any other language are not correct. Only the Florida VPK Assessment (with AP 1, 2, and 3) - Second Edition should be administered to the children. All other versions of the VPK Assessment should be properly discarded.

Response booklets may only be copied for the purpose of assessment. Providers may also download scoring booklets by visiting www.fldoe.org/earlylearning and clicking on VPK Assessment.

Providers will receive a free VPK Assessment kit for each of their VPK classrooms by August 31, 2012.

If you have not received your kit by the end of August, please contact Drummond Press at 1-800-247-5361. If you have any further questions about the kits, please contact Michelle Sizemore at the Florida Department of Education at Michelle.Sizemore@fldoe.org.

For information regarding children with disabilities and children who are English Language Learners, please see pages 53-54 in the VPK Assessment Teacher's Manual.

Notifying Parents

VPK providers are NOT allowed to add or delete words in the parent letter found on page 52 in the VPK Assessment Teacher's Manual. Providers may create a separate letter, but be clear that the Department of Education in no way endorses the letter and assumes no responsibility for the content thereof.

It is best practice and the responsibility of the VPK provider to notify parents prior to administering assessments to their children.